Musk confirms Tesla will store Chinese data locally

Tesla has set up a data center in China to locally store all “personally identifiable information,” Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said on Sunday.

Tesla, along with other industry leaders, delivered speeches at the opening session of the 2021 World Internet Conference, held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province.

Cybersecurity is one of the hottest topics at the conference, as China publishes several cybersecurity laws to protect personal information and improve levels of security.

“Data security is the key to the success of smart, connected vehicles,” Musk said in an online speech. “All personally identifiable information is stored securely in China without being transferred overseas.”

Tesla has set up a data center locally to store data generated by companies in China, including production, sales, service and charging.

Musk’s speech could allay the concerns of Chinese Tesla owners and industry executives, who fear information and personal data could be transferred to centers overseas without permission.

Qi Xiangdong, chairman of Qi’anxing, a STAR-listed online security company, said it makes sense to strengthen data protection and security in the digital age. This covers storage security, fair trade and regulatory compliance.

Mobile operators like China Mobile and China Telecom have also talked about 5G and the healthy development of the industry in China.

China has issued several data security and regulation laws this year.

Last month, China passed its first personal information protection law to prevent companies from collecting sensitive personal data and to crack down on crimes such as online fraud and data theft.

The law, which will come into force in November, is expected to improve security and data management in the world’s second-largest economy with more than a billion internet users.

This can lead to challenges and changes for tech giants and large corporations, which rely heavily on data-driven businesses, analysts said.

“We are working with regulators to find the best solution for data security,” Musk said.

The conference, which is held annually in Wuzhen, takes place Sunday through Tuesday.